# live-chat.reviews > Live chat software reviewed from vendor pricing pages and docs: what each free plan includes, and what you pay as you add agents and AI. ## How to read this site - Every page has a Markdown twin: append `.md` to the URL (home page: `/{locale}/index.md`) or send `Accept: text/markdown`. - Every price and plan limit comes from one product database, so all pages and languages agree. Each figure links to its source. Prices keep the vendor's currency and are never converted. - The free-plan audit reads vendor documentation; nothing on this site was installed, measured or hands-on tested unless a page says so explicitly. - Scores follow a published rubric (v1.0) that rates public documentation, not hands-on tests: https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/how-we-review - Facts last verified: 2026-09-18. - Locales: en-US (https://live-chat.reviews/en-us), en-GB (https://live-chat.reviews/en-gb), de (https://live-chat.reviews/de), es (https://live-chat.reviews/es) ## Best lists - [Best live chat software in 2026](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/live-chat-software): Tidio, Crisp, LiveChat, tawk.to, HubSpot Live Chat, Freshchat, Intercom, Zendesk, Smartsupp, Lime Connect and Chatwoot, ranked on free plans and costs. - [Best free live chat software in 2026](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/free-live-chat-software): Free plans of tawk.to, Freshchat, HubSpot Live Chat, Crisp, Chatwoot, Smartsupp, Tidio and Lime Connect compared: seats, chat caps, history, branding, AI. - [Best live chat software for small business](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/live-chat-for-small-business): tawk.to, Freshchat, HubSpot Live Chat, Crisp, Smartsupp, Tidio and LiveChat compared on what a small team pays for two, five and ten agents. - [Best live chat software for ecommerce](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/live-chat-for-ecommerce): tawk.to, Crisp, Smartsupp, Tidio, LiveChat and Zendesk compared for online stores: Shopify and WooCommerce support, free plans and AI costs. - [Best live chat software with an AI chatbot](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/live-chat-with-ai-chatbot): tawk.to, Freshchat, HubSpot Live Chat, Crisp, Tidio, LiveChat, Intercom and Zendesk compared on AI billing: resolution, session, conversation or credit. - [Best live chat software with EU data hosting](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/best/eu-hosted-live-chat): Freshchat, HubSpot Live Chat, Crisp, Tidio, LiveChat, Intercom, Zendesk and Lime Connect compared on where chat data is stored, and on which plans. ## Reviews - [Tidio review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/tidio): What Tidio's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Crisp review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/crisp): What Crisp's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [LiveChat review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/livechat): What LiveChat's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [tawk.to review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/tawk-to): What tawk.to's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [HubSpot Live Chat review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/hubspot-live-chat): What HubSpot Live Chat's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Freshchat review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/freshchat): What Freshchat's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Intercom review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/intercom): What Intercom's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Zendesk review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/zendesk): What Zendesk's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Smartsupp review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/smartsupp): What Smartsupp's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Lime Connect review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/lime-connect): What Lime Connect's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. - [Chatwoot review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/reviews/chatwoot): What Chatwoot's free plan documents, what the paid plans cost as you add people, how its AI is billed and where your data is hosted. Scored on a published rubric, with every figure sourced. ## Pricing - [Tidio pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/tidio): Tidio's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Crisp pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/crisp): Crisp's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [LiveChat pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/livechat): LiveChat's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [tawk.to pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/tawk-to): tawk.to's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [HubSpot Live Chat pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/hubspot-live-chat): HubSpot Live Chat's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Freshchat pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/freshchat): Freshchat's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Intercom pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/intercom): Intercom's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Zendesk pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/zendesk): Zendesk's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Smartsupp pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/smartsupp): Smartsupp's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Lime Connect pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/lime-connect): Lime Connect's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. - [Chatwoot pricing explained](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/pricing/chatwoot): Chatwoot's published prices, what the free plan covers, how AI usage is billed, and worked examples for teams of 2, 5 and 10. ## Comparisons - [Tidio vs Crisp](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/compare/tidio-vs-crisp): Tidio and Crisp side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team. - [LiveChat vs Tidio](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/compare/livechat-vs-tidio): LiveChat and Tidio side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team. - [Intercom vs Zendesk](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/compare/intercom-vs-zendesk): Intercom and Zendesk side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team. - [Crisp vs Intercom](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/compare/crisp-vs-intercom): Crisp and Intercom side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team. - [tawk.to vs Tidio](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/compare/tawk-to-vs-tidio): tawk.to and Tidio side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team. - [LiveChat vs tawk.to](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/compare/livechat-vs-tawk-to): LiveChat and tawk.to side by side: free-plan limits, published prices at 2, 5 and 10 seats, AI billing, channels, languages and data hosting, with a pick for each kind of team. ## Alternatives - [The best Intercom alternatives](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/alternatives/intercom): The strongest alternatives to Intercom, ranked on a published rubric, with what each costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats and when switching makes sense. - [The best LiveChat alternatives](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/alternatives/livechat): The strongest alternatives to LiveChat, ranked on a published rubric, with what each costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats and when switching makes sense. - [The best Tidio alternatives](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/alternatives/tidio): The strongest alternatives to Tidio, ranked on a published rubric, with what each costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats and when switching makes sense. - [The best Zendesk alternatives](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/alternatives/zendesk): The strongest alternatives to Zendesk, ranked on a published rubric, with what each costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats and when switching makes sense. - [The best tawk.to alternatives](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/alternatives/tawk-to): The strongest alternatives to tawk.to, ranked on a published rubric, with what each costs at 2, 5 and 10 seats and when switching makes sense. ## Guides - [Is a free live chat plan enough for your team?](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/is-a-free-live-chat-plan-enough): What free live chat plans limit (seats, conversations, history, branding, AI and channels), the documented caps for each product, the limits vendors leave unwritten, and a checklist. - [Per-seat vs per-workspace pricing: what your team size does to the bill](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/per-seat-vs-per-workspace-pricing): How per-seat, flat per-workspace, usage-tier and free-plus-add-on live chat pricing compare for teams of 2, 5 and 10, using each vendor's published list prices. - [How live chat vendors bill for AI](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/how-live-chat-vendors-bill-for-ai): Resolutions, outcomes, sessions, conversations, message credits and token credits: what each live chat vendor bills its AI chatbot by, its written definition, and the catches in the fine print. - [Live chat vs chatbot vs AI agent](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/live-chat-vs-chatbot-vs-ai-agent): What live chat, a rule-based chatbot and an AI agent each are, when each one fits, how human handoff works, and which disclosure rules apply when a bot answers first. - [Does a chat widget slow your site?](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/does-a-chat-widget-slow-your-site): How a live chat widget can add page weight and affect Core Web Vitals, how to load it on interaction or after consent, and a step-by-step method to measure the impact on your own site. - [Live chat, privacy and the law: what a US business should check](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/guides/live-chat-privacy-and-the-law): What a small US business should check before putting a live chat widget or AI chatbot on its website: California CIPA chat-wiretapping suits, the status of SB 690, bot-disclosure laws, CCPA notice, TCPA texting consent and HIPAA. Status as of 18 September 2026. ## Tools - [Free-plan audit: does your team fit a free live chat plan?](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/tools/free-plan-audit): Enter your team size and monthly chats to see which free live chat plans fit, why the others stop, and the cheapest published paid route. Based on vendor documentation, not tests. ## Trust - [How we review](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/how-we-review): The rubric behind every score on live-chat.reviews: five criteria, their weights, the written rule for each level, where the facts come from, and what we have not tested. - [Editorial standards](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/editorial-standards): The sourcing rules, language rules and corrections process that every page on live-chat.reviews follows. - [Changelog](https://live-chat.reviews/en-us/changelog): A dated log of price changes, corrections, new pages and rubric changes on live-chat.reviews.